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Why do we need an organization? Some reasons include: – Support group for the small number of teachers statewide who teach courses or units in CS and IT – Support for teachers who face districts wanting to eliminate CS and IT from the curriculum (eg, budget, interest) – Better pursue and expand CS/IT activities state- wide (e.g., workshops, proclamations) – Over 80 WI CS/IT teachers have attended this conference in recent years 2

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What’s Happening in WI? Semi-Annual reports of activities provided to CSTA Since 2006 there has been a CS/IT strand at the WMC Annual Math Conference We had a national ACM/SIGCSE Symposium in March, 2010 CS Ed Week Proclamation for 2009 through 2011 Involvement with iFair events in Milwaukee Involvement with national directions – Involvement with APCS Principles and Exploring CS courses – Involvement with K-12 Computational Thinking initiative (CSTA, ISTE, NSF) 3

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Recent National Imperatives-1 CS Explicitly in STEMCS Explicitly in STEM. The Department of Education has recognized computer science as a science part of STEM. This is important for applying for funds related to STEM. policy/RTTT_i3_Funding_Memo_v2.pdf 5

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Recent National Imperatives-2 Inclusion of Computer Science in the Draft of the Math Core StandardInclusion of Computer Science in the Draft of the Math Core Standard. This statement by John White, President of ACM, relates to the inclusion of computer science in the set of standards being worked on by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association for use by all states once it is finalized in the next few months.. Council of Chief State School OfficersNational Governors Association standards1 Cameron Wilson, Director of Public Policy for ACM, wrote a longer blog post with more context as to what this means. computing-and-the-common-core/fulltext 6

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IT, CS, CT, oh My! Traditional Definitions of IT and CS (and other related fields such as SE, CE, IS) are too narrow Broader definitions proposed for CS and IT – Computing Technologies (CT)? ACM Model CS Curriculum based on algorithm development and problem solving IT Career Cluster has 4 pathways 7

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Why Teach CS/IT in K-12? Workforce development issues Higher levels of information fluency required of workers Current numbers of students in post- secondary institutions involved with Computing are at historic lows 8

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IT and STEM Nationally – job openings in IT through 2020 is > 1.37 million – Job openings in STEM through 2020 is > 1.42 million Wisconsin – Job openings in IT through 2018 is about 15,800 – Job openings in STEM through 2018 is about 18,700 Conclusions: – We should add IT to our STEM initiatives – Not an IT vs engineering thing, but rather an awareness of greater opportunities for family-supporting careers for our kids 24

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How did we get to where we’re at? Perceptions of CS/IT job market Perceptions of the kind of jobs these are Budget cutting CS/IT courses deemed expendable, not required, not mainstream Results of schools reacting to NCLB 25

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How did we get… Lack of courses Lack of trained and interested teachers Lack of professional development opportunities Cost of teacher certification Need for development of a national curriculum similar to PLTW (including courses, prof development, marketing) 26

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Opportunities are there The projections for WI are almost identical to those of the nation (2020 = college graduation for this year’s HS freshmen) Need to get more students involved at younger ages Need to keep them on the right track Need to have that “right track” for them to choose and to continue through HS 27

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What to do? Ensuring students become proficient users of IT products and services (fluency) Committing to offer IT curriculum in middle and high schools Support faculty to become certified to teach IT 28

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Ensuring students become proficient users of IT products and services (fluency) Faculty models use of technology Technology is integrated in all subject areas Providing technology for communication and collaboration Ensuring access to technology Allow for networking and social groups related to IT Encourage exploration and experimentation 29

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Support faculty to become certified to teach IT CS Certification only relates to programming – Under review – More than programming Application Training Industry Certifications – A+, Net+, iNet+ Vendor Certifications – Microsoft, CISCO MATC – classes for recertification and professional development 31

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CS/IT and STEM Programs and Activities that expose students to IT and STEM careers Ways in which companies and individuals can support these through sponsorship and mentoring The role schools and faculty play in supporting these programs Computational Thinking initiatives might be the “glue” that brings these two areas closely together 32

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Activities for Students In addition to PLTW and other tech courses, there are a number of programs aimed at exposing students to STEM careers 33

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Mentoring and Sponsorship These programs offer companies the chance to sponsor activities and provide mentors to attract the workforce of tomorrow (and the interns of today) 34

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Forming a Statewide CS/IT Group Chapter of CSTA (Computer Science Teachers Association) Chapter application submitted in late 2010; temporarily tabled; we will resubmit – See proposed “Planned Activities” from the application; are there others? We need your help, support and most importantly involvement to make this work. Please let us invite you to our WI-CSandIT- Teachers Google Group 36

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What Else is Happening? AP CS Principles pilot course being taught by Andy Kuemmel at Madison West and Andrea Arpaci-Dusseau at UW-Madison – Second phase of the pilot – Now including high schools paired with universities – Intended to be an introduction to Computer Science so it is not just a programming course – Probably will be used as a predecessor course for APCS-A which is the current Java-based course. – Andy has a session on Friday at 1pm in Bauer-Lightbody 37

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Is there more? Google-supported CS4HS at Marquette U July – see flyer – we need your attendance and ideas – First efforts to make a difference in CS for Wisconsin To register – For suggestions or questions – Dennis Brylow, 38

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All that and more? NSF Computing Education for the 21 st Century (CE21) Program Solicitation – 10 person team including DPI, Marquette U, UW- Madison, UW-LaCrosse and several high school people – Submitted a 3-yr proposal called PUMP-CS – Would start Summer, 2013 with PD for Exploring CS and AP CS Principles curricula – Begin work on WI CS Certification changes 39